ONS / NISR
2021
Tableau is a dashboarding tool that makes it incredibly easy to create complex, interactive visualisations in a low-code way.
Tableau can optimise for whatever type of device is being used (computer, phone, tablet) meaning it always looks good.
Tableau can be used to make complex interactive dashboards for nearly any data source.
Tableau can be easily embedded on any webpage, or downloaded into a standalone file offline viewing
There are three types of tab in Tableau:
In order to create each one use the appropriate button at the bottom of the window.
The main way a user can interact with a Tableau document. They allow the user to define exactly what data they are looking at and are completely extensible.
Filtering by aggregate measures is possible but tricky. Especially when interacting with other filters.
You can customise tooltips by clicking on the the tooltip mark. It is also possible to add extra information into tooltips by dragging pills onto the tooltip mark. Tooltips are incredibly useful for providing extra information and for clarifying exactly what a single mark on your data visualisation means.
Tableau is really useful for creating interactive maps very quickly. In order to create a map all we need is a latitude and longitude in our dataset. Dragging those pills to the column and row shelves and a map will form.
It is also possible to connect directly to shapefiles and other spatial data to create even more complex maps.
Try the following:
Tableau now has two different files open. In order for tableau to know how to use them together you may need to define how the two connect.
Your data sources are now connected
Going back to a worksheet you'll notice that there are a lot more pills available. These have mostly come from the shapefile's data. For example Adm2 En contains the English name for each second level administration region.
There are two new pills generated by Tableau as a result of connecting the shapefile.
Test
Filters that you've applied to your worksheet can be accessed from your dashboard. Using the gray down arrow on your chart or table select filters and then the filter you want to be available.
Filters can be styled, and applied to multiple visualisations on the dashboard by using Apply to Worksheets. You can create very complex behavior using this method.
Tableau public is a Tableau Inc.'s instance of Tableau server, available to anyone who wishes to publish there. All published data and workbooks are available to the public.
Data will be uploaded directly to Tableau public's server and be available across the site. It will keep all your calculated fields, parameters, formatting and other metadata you’ve created.
It is viewable through any web browser, can be edited in Tableau and re-uploaded.
Tableau Public is Public! As Tableau needs access to raw data in order to work, if you publish a dashboard with sensitive data, anyone will be able to see it!
Publishing in Tableau Public is as simple as saving (its actually the only way you can save).
Publishing in Tableau Public is as simple as saving (its actually the only way you can save).
File -> Save to Tableau Public
Once you've signed in you should only need to set the name for your workbook to be published. This will then automatically open your browser to a published tableau workbook. From here you can use the share icon to get a link to send to people and embed code that can be put on any website.
Its possible to create entirely new fields in Tableau using calculated fields. Right-click in the tables pane and select Create -> Calculated Field.
These can be very handy, but best practice is to have as many fields on your data source as possible, so they can be verified at an earlier stage.
Table calculations are extremely powerful tools that allow you to create variables that calculate their value by looking at the entire dataset (or a section of it). They are also dynamic, meaning they respond to which ever pills are in the table. This can save you having to calculate every possible percentage in your dataset and instead calculate them on the fly.
Tableau has a lot of built in colour schemes, but in order to create professionally looking visualisations, its often useful to have a consistent format across the organisation. You can do this manually but it is a bit of a chore, however editing the Preferences.tps in your My Tableau repository.
Tableau help: https://www.tableau.com/support/help
Forums: https://community.tableau.com/welcome
Training videos: https://www.tableau.com/learn/training
Sample data & how-to videos: https://public.tableau.com/en-us/s/resources
For inspiration: https://public.tableau.com/en-us/s/gallery